Dixonians 7 Claverdon 33
Midlands Junior Vase round one
DEPLETED Claverdon rose to the challenge to progress into the second round thanks to a gutsy display at their Birmingham hosts’ Rowheath Pavilion home on Saturday.
The Lions have suffered from injuries and absences in the early part of their Midlands Four West (South) campaign and only just managed to raise a side for this cup encounter, but the players who made the trip did the club proud.
The damage was done against their Midlands Five West (North) opponents in the first half when a brace of tries from James Williams, a debut score for Ollie Thornton and a try from James Gibney – added to by three conversions – gave the Lions a 26-0 interval lead.
The tight five were solid going forward in most scrums and the lineout was functioning well despite the wet weather, with credit going to Josh Smallwood for throwing well in difficult conditions.
This gave the backs decent ball so they could work their magic, which they did with ease.
However, the same could not be said about the second half as a bit of complacency crept in, but credit where it is due as Old Dixonians stepped up their game and put some decent phases together on multiple occasions and deservedly got their score towards the end.
Despite what turned out to be an extremely scrappy half of rugby, Claverdon did get one more score through Williams who completed his hat-trick in style by scoring in the corner.
Claverdon, with a win and a loss to their name in the league, continue the season at Redditch on Saturday.
